Bathtime and the Tale of the Ominous Orange Mush
by Hermia LaFaye
Summary: The kitchen's a mess and baby Jack is laughing at him. Nine/Rose


Bath Time and the Ominous Orange Mush

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

A/N: Inspired by a picture of CE from Flesh and Blood.

The water gushed out of the taps and started to fill the plain white bath tub. He reached for some Johnson's Baby Bath and squirted some into the tub. He quickly swished the water round with one hand causing the bubbles to foam on the surface of the water, and then threw in a couple of plastic ducks.

He put the bottle back on the side of the bath, and then gingerly pulled off his jumper. All the while, being careful to try and avoid getting any more of the orange coloured mush that he was currently covered in on himself.

An excited giggle sounded through the bathroom. He dropped the jumper into the wash basket, and turned round and knelt down to face his son, Jack. Who was also currently laid on the changing mat on the Bathroom floor. Jack was also covered from head to toe in said mush.

"I don't know what you're laughing at, this is all your fault you know." The Doctor said with an amused grin.

Jack's only response was another giggle, and a wriggle as he tried to reach for his Father's nose, it was after all quite an interesting nose.

The Doctor deafly avoided Jack's sticky hands, "I probably shouldn't have given you that spoon." He said thoughtfully, and then let out a chuckle as Jack finally managed to grab his nose.

The Doctor pulled away, "Oi, cheeky, now come on, lets get you out of those clothes, can't be nice being all covered in mashed carrots now, can it. I should know." He said, wiping away the bit of carrot Jack had managed to spread on his nose.

The Doctor stripped Jack down to his nappy, and promptly deposited the offending garments into the wash basket. The process of undressing his son on a normal day was a quest in itself, he was a tad on the hyperactive wriggly side. Today was no exception, if anything, Jack looked in a even worse state than the one he'd started in. As usual though, Jack accepted this with good grace, as did the Doctor.

He laid Jack back down on the changing mat, being careful of his head, (after all he was the second the last Timelord in existence, one can't be too careful), and frowned as his hand came away covered in more of the mashed carrots.

"How on earth did you manage to get it on the back of your head?" He asked incredulously.

Jack shot his Father a cheeky grin. The Doctor frowned slightly at that, it was one the of the things about Jack, that neither he nor Rose could work our where it came from. That and the hair. Jack had brown hair which seemed to defy gravity. It stuck out in every possible direction and, more recently and more worryingly, seemed to have started to develop, what could only be described as, 'a bit of a quiff'. Honestly, it was almost embarrassing, and, despite his best efforts, Rose refused point blank to let anyone cut it, save for the occasional trim. She said it was cute. He hated that, Jack was a Time Tot, and was certainly not cute. Adorable, yes, cute, no.

Briefly turning away from Jack, he turned off the taps, and tested the temperature of the water with his elbow. Satisfied that his son wasn't going to boil to death, he stripped off the rest of his clothes, took off Jack's nappy and proceeded to climb into the bath.

Upon seeing the water, Jack began to bounce in his Fathers arms, his little legs and arms kicking and waving in excitement,

"Da da da da da da." He chanted as he was lowered into the water. As it had so many times before, something tightened in the Doctors chest as his son chanted his name; it had been the first thing his baby boy had ever said. Once fully settled in the bath, Jack let out a high pitched squeal and a giggle as he began to splash around in the water.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you planned this." He said with a smile.

Jack didn't deem to reply, he was too busy chewing on one of the rubber ducks that had been floating around on the water. But, sensing his Father's stillness, he removed the duck from his mouth and turned his head.

"Da?" he said, as if asking if anything was wrong.

"Never mind Da, I was talking to you." He said, his eyebrows as e glared at his son, a glint of laughter in his gaze.

Jack, despite his impressive biology was only five months old to master the finer points of speech. So he did the only thing he could, (and it killed him a little inside, but if it made his Father happy again), he offered him his rubber duck.

"Never mind your peace offerings," the Doctor said as he plucked the duck out of Jacks hand and dropped it back into the water, "It's too late now Jack me lad, you have to learn to face the consequences of your actions, you know what happens now don't you?" he said, fighting to keep the serious expression on his face.

Jack did indeed know what was going to happen next, and squealed happily as he was plucked out of the water. His laughter filled the bathroom as his Father blew a raspberry on his tummy, and was soon joined by the Doctor's deep chuckle at his son's happiness.

It was in these small moments, that the Doctor thanked all that was good in the Universe that Rose Tyler, had literally swung into his life in his darkest hour, and saved him from himself.

Rose at this moment in time, was out shopping with his sons namesake, Jack Harkness.

Jack had only recently come back into their lives. Up until about a month ago, they had believed Jack had died back on Satellite Five at the hands of the Daleks. But due to the combination of Rose, the TARDIS and the Time Vortex, they had all survived that day. Some, a little more changed than others. The months following that event were some of the hardest Rose and he had faced. But, they had come together and out of that darkest of times, the little bright spark that was their son Jack had come about.

The past month had been hard upon them as well, it had been quite the shock when landing in Cardiff to refuel, Jack had come knocking at their door. It was after a few days of tears, tea and anger that things began to come to rights between the trio. A lot of the anger and resentment that had built up in Jack, had been deflected when he saw the memorial the two had set up in his memory on the Eye of Orion. Of course, the fact that Rose and the Doctor had named their son after him helped things along quite nicely.

Currently the Trio were flittering between London and Cardiff, allowing time for Jack to set things up to take more of a back seat with his team, and for Jackie to spend some quality time with her Grandson. The Doctor preferred Cardiff, interesting things happened there. It was amazing really how fast Rose could run wearing Jack in a baby sling.

Jack being his parents son, managed to laugh and giggle his way through most things. He had found the Sycorax invasion most amusing, he still giggled about it even now.

Pulling himself out of his musings, the Doctor set about washing away the rest of the carrot mush out of Jacks hair. Jack hated having his hair washed, and protested quite loudly at the indignity of it all,

"Come on Jack, it's not that bad." The Doctor said gently, as he rinsed the last of the shampoo from Jacks hair. Pulling Jack to him, he held the little boy against his chest, gently rubbing his back, until his cries calmed.

Jack felt it was that bad, but felt slightly better as the sounds of his Fathers hearts filled his ears. He felt even better when his Father gave him back his rubber duck and began to play splash with him.

Rose Tyler was in a good mood. She'd had a very nice baby free morning spent shopping and bonding with Jack. This mood promptly disappeared however when she saw the state of her Mums kitchen. Her jaw dropped, there was mashed carrot everywhere. She heard Jack stop behind her,

"Wow, it looks like a Sumarian exploded in here" he said chuckling.

Rose rolled her eyes and sighed,

"My Mum's gonna kill him, I'll be a single Mum before teatime." She said mournfully.

Jack moved into the living room, and stashed the bags behind the sofa came back into the kitchen. He grabbed a cloth and turned to Rose,

"Look, I'll get started in here, should take no time at all" he said looking around, "And you, go find that dashing little rake you call a son and his equally dashing Father."

Rose sighed in relief and gave Jack a quick hug,

"Thanks Jack, what would we do without you?"

Jack smiled, "Hey, this is in the interest of self preservation, the Doctors the only one who can drive the TARDIS properly" he said cheekily.

Rose playfully punched him and moved off to find the Doctor and her son. It was an easy search, the sounds of splashing and the Doctors baritone voice singing 'Five little Speckled Frogs' led her to the bathroom. Being very quiet, she opened the door a touch and her heart melted at the sight of the Doctor and her son giggling away together in the bath. She couldn't bring herself to disturb them, the sight of them together was too cute for words. She moved away and quietly made her way back to the kitchen, but not before she caught the Doctors words to her son.

"And don't you dare tell your Mother I've been singing to you, I'd never hear the end of it."

She laughed.


End file.
